Photo for The Union by John Hart
Nevada Union’s Business and Technology club is seeking funds for programs to prepare for Hackathon, David Bernadett in back helping the others of the team, left to right are: Grant Clove, David Imel, Greg Paul, and Alex Dunn.

Photo for The Union by John Hart
Nevada Union’s Business and Technology club is seeking funds for programs to prepare for Hackathon, left to right are: David Bernadett, Grant Clove, David Imel, Greg Paul, Alex Dunn.

Photo for The Union by John Hart
Nevada Union’s Business and Technology club is seeking funds for programs to prepare for Hackathon, left to right are: David Bernadett, Grant Clove, David Imel, Greg Paul, Alex Dunn.

Related Media

As extracurricular programs have been reduced to lunchtime and after-school meetings, the adage “where there’s a will, there’s a way” has become apparent at Nevada Union High School.

NU student and technology and business club leader David Bernadett has been teaching computer programming to club members and is asking for community funds for computer programs to compete in Nevada County’s annual Hackathon, where computer programmers and others in the field of software development, like graphic and interface designers, work together on software projects.

The Corona SDK is a mobile development framework program that allows for the building of apps and games for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and Nook.

“We don’t have Corona SDK, which is about $350, along with an Apple developer license, which is $100, along with a couple other tools,” Bernadett said. “Support would be extremely appreciated.”

Bernadett said the tools received would be donated to the club for its future members.

Bernadett has ambitious goals for the club, including building an iPhone app,

“The goal of the second semester is to build an iPhone app and distribute that,” Bernadett said.

One of the biggest challenges for the club, according to Bernadett, is the lack of computer access at Nevada Union.

“There are six computer labs at Nevada Union, and we can’t access any of the computers,” Bernadett said. “The school computers are so outdated that the graphics cards compatible with any current computer won’t work.”

According to business and technology club advisor Brad Dal Bon, the students must teach themselves since the class is no longer available after the computer teacher moved to psychology.

“The students cannot take a computer class on campus,” Dal Bon said. “The students must work with their own equipment and learn on their own.”

According to Nevada Union Partnership Academy English teacher Louise Mcfadden, the cost to update computers is too high for Nevada Union.

“It is hard for Nevada Union because when you have that many people, you’re not talking about buying five computers. You’re talking about 100 computers,” Mcfadden said. “That level of investment in this day and age is a formidable task.”

Technology and business club members who plan to participate in the Hackathon have goals to pursue computer programming and engineering in college.

“It’s a cool thing to do,” said member Alex Dunn. “Computer science is an area of interest.”

“I have interest in computers and going into the Hackathon to learn certain amount of programs by that time period,” said Greg Paul.

“I’m majoring in computer science in college,” said David Imel, who hopes to intern with Google. “I’m interested in making my own apps, and it’s super exciting to be even more prepared for college.”

Even members who are less programming savvy are determined to learn as much as possible for the Hackathon’s Dec. 1 deadline.

“I want to major in engineering design, and I’m not very familiar with computer programs,” said Grant Clove. “This time frame gives me the best possible chance to force myself to do it.”

If the business and technology club cannot secure the funds, the programs for Hackathon will have to come out of pocket. To support the club, Bernadett can be contacted at davidbernadett@sbcglobal.net.